Manchester United defender Rafael celebrates Brazil win
By Christopher Atkins 2012-07-27 12:30:00
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Rafael da Silva has praised Brazil's first-half performance in their 3-2 defeat of Egypt as the Seleção got their Olympic Games campaign underway.
Rafael, 21, was Sambafoot Man of the Match for his goalscoring performance, as an integral member of the side in both attack and defence.
In the first-half, Brazil were untouchable, quickly extending a three-goal lead thanks to Rafael, Leandro Damião and Neymar, but the second-half was more disappointing.
With Egypt resurrgent, the Seleção looked unable to control the game in midfield and conceded two goals, a fact bemoaned by the Manchester United full-back.
Rafael told Terra: "We dropped a bit after the first-half. We conceded silly goals and we must correct that.
"What is important is the result. I think everything we tried worked in the first-half. The first-half was perfect. It could have been 5-0, or even more!"
Manchester United fans watching the encounter will doubtless have been impressed by their young right-back's performance, but will understand that he must repeat it on a more regular basis in order to move to the next stage of his development.
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